Sole plate for laundering irons



March 8, 1966 c. F. MULLEN 3,238,650

SOLE PLATE FOR LAUNDERING IRONS Filed 001:. 15, 1964 Fig.

/i /8 W20 40 38 36 46 44 48 54 32 2a Fig 4 Charles E Mullen i 48INVENTOR.

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52 50 46 44 5a 56 54 wfiwfi% United States Patent 3,238,650 SOLE PLATEFOR LAUNDERING IRONS Charles F. Mulien, Ashury Park, N.J., assignor ofonefourth each to W. Robert Warwick and Anna M. Warwick, Long Branch,N.J., and Henry J. Sander, Neptune, NJ.

Filed Oct. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 404,014 1 Claim. (CI. 3893) This inventionrelates to laundering irons such as are functionally designed andstructurally styled for hand ironing needs. It pertains, moreparticularly, to an iron having a sole plate which, as usual, isgenerally semieliipsoidal in plan, but is effectually novel in that thepressing and smoothing surface, instead of being flat, is provided witha multiplicity of distributively oriented ribs whose work surfaces arecambered and coordinated for pressing and smoothing performanceheretofore unattainable even in modified, other than flat, prior artsole plates.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the concept the ribs arecooperatively associated with each other in a novel manner and areindividually designed so that the over-all layout is not only ribbed butalso characterized by grooves between contiguous ribs thus providing aridge and dale pattern which is advantageous and resultful. Accordingly,the ribbed-grooved arrangement achieves maximum pressure in pounds persquare inch on the textile fabric, cloth or other surface being pressedand ironed.

The interrelated ribs and intervening grooves or channels functionsingly and collectively whereby the sole plate of the iron facilitateuninterrupted and unhampered gliding and passage of the convex crests orlands of the ribs over the perimeter edges of the material withoutdisplacing (picking up or wrinkling) the material and interfering withironing ease.

The iron exerts a greater inherent pressure because of the reducedover-all contact area of the ribs on the top of the article (apparel,clothing, etc.) being ironed. The downward pressure exerted by theoperator is likewise proportionately increased. The total pressure onthe article thus produces an ironing and spreading out action which isoutstandingly advantageous by comparison to the conventional flat iron.Thus, fewer passes of the irons sole plate are required, and time,effort and energy are conserved and significantly saved.

One improvement has to do with a sole plate provided at its axial centerwith an integral ellipsoidal boss having a convex surface, said bossbeing marginally surrounded by a first contiguous ellipsoidal rib havinga convexly cambered crest, a second ellipsoidal rib marginallysurrounding said first rib and likewise having a correspondinglyconvexly cambered crest, and a plurality of supplemental ellipsoidalribs surrounding said second rib and each other in a concentric patternand likewise constructed, all of said ribs being progressively andproportionally increased in diameter and providing interveningellipsoidal grooves, all of the respective convex crests being in acommon plane.

Additionally, the present invention comprehends the provision on an ironof a horizontal sole plate embodying a toe portion having a pointedleading tip, a heel portion having the usual straight-across trailingedge, and opposed curvate lengthwise marginal edge portions joining saidheel and toe portions, the bottom of said toe portion having a generallytriangulate flat-faced sector relatively small in area, the major partof said bottom being completely covered with a multiplicity of smoothingribs, said ribs being contiguous to each other.

These together with other objects and advantages which Patented Mar. 8,1966 will become subsequently apparent reside in the details ofconstruction and operation as more fully hereinafter described andclaimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a parthereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of alaundering iron (regular sad-iron or hollow electrically or otherwiseheated iron) provided with a sole plate featuring the invention hereinshown, described and claimed;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the improved iron shown in FIG. 1 andillustrating all of the cooperating components or features;

FIG. 3 is a central longitudinal section on the section line 33 of FIG.2; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse or cross-sectional view taken at right angles onthe plane of the section line 4'4 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1 it will be seen that the laundering iron is denotedas an entity by the numeral 6 and is characterized by aconventionally-shaped base and body portion 8 which is here providedwith the improved sole plate.

FIG. 2 provides and shows the structural features which characterize thesole plate by itself, the latter being denoted generally by the numeralltl in all of the views. It will be further evident from the views ofthe drawing that all essential features of the over-all concept areillustrated in FIG. 2 from which it will be evident that the toe portionis denoted at 12, the heel portion at 14 and the main or body portiontherebetween, this being designated, for convenience of descriptionhere, by the numeral 16. With further reference to the toe portion itwill be evident that it is of customary plan configuration and thereforehas a leading pointed end 18, the bottom surface adjacent thereto beingsmooth finished and flat as at 20 and providing a generally triangulatesector. The heel portion 14 embodies the customary transverse orstraight across trailing edge 22 having corner portions which are alsohorizontal and fiat thus to provide additional triangulate surfaces 24and 26. All three surfaces 20, 24 and 26 are generally similar in area,plan configuration and are in a common plane. With further reference toFIG. 2 it will be noticed that there are approximately threedistinguishable ribbed areas or regions and that the forward one ischaracterized by a pair of elongated progressively proportioned ribs.There are two ribs, one at 28 and a second and similar rib at 30, therebeing an intervening marginal or peripheral groove 32 therebetween. tworibs are disposed in coincident relationship and extend transverselybetween the longitudinally extending or arcuate marginal edges 34 in themanner shown. There are three similarly constructed and performingrearward transverse ribs and these are denoted at 36, 38 and 40respectively. These ribs are similar in length with'each other andconstitute the second group of .ribs and they,

likewise extend crosswise between the two marginal side edges 34 andthey have intervening grooves or channels which are denoted at 42. Athird group of ribs is also provided and this group constitutes the mainrib assembly and it embodies an axial or centrally disposed ellipsoidalboss or embossment which is denoted at 44 and which has its respectivepointed ends lined up with the long axis of the over-allsemi-ellipsoidal sole plate 10. Closely associated with this boss Iprovide a plurality of associatively cooperable longitudinally elongatedribs. more specific these elongated ribs are fashioned into ellipsoidalcomponents. The expression component or component units is used here toassist in pointing the details of construction and wherein it will beevident that the innermost ellipsoidal component or member is de-.

These To be' noted at 46 and this completely circumscribes thecentralized embossment 44 and provides and encompassing first groove orchannel 48. As a matter of fact this component 46 is referred to as thefirst ellipsoidal rib. Here again and since the ribs are not trulyelliptical and have pointed ends they are being described as ellipsoidalin delineation or configuration. In any event the second ellipsoidalcomponent is denoted at 50 and this encircles or surrounds the first one46 and in addition it is, in turn, surrounded by additional orcomplemental ellipsoidal ribs 52 and 54. It follows that theseellipsoidal ribs concentrically surround each other and provideintervening ellipsoidal channels or grooves referred to generally at 56.

It will be evident that the sole plate is characterized by the usualsemi-ellipsoidal shape and plan, that it has three triangulate sectors20, 24 and 26 with the sector at the pointed or leading toe portion andthe other two at the heel portion. The boss 44 and ellipsoidal ribs 46,52 and 54 provide a group covering the major body portion and the othershorter ribs 28 and 30 at the front and 36, 38 and 40 at the rearcooperate in making up the novel pressing, tautening and smoothingribbed surface. It will be noted that all of the ribs, singly andcollectively, are substantially arcular in cross-section as brought outin FIGS. 3 and 4. Also, the crest or crown portions of these ribsdenoted at 58 are uniformly convex and constitute the structure forincreasing ironing pressure by reducing the sole plate area. All ofthese lands are in common plane which is, when in use, in the same planeas the three triangulate areas 20, 24 and 26.

The concept of the invention takes into consideration the fact that thepressures exerted by the weight of an object on the objects supportingsurface is inversely pro portional to the area of the object residingatop the supporting surface. The design and construction of the hereindisclosed sole plate of a hand or laundering iron applies the foregoingprinciple with the result that the surface of the sole plate contactingthe cloth or other material being ironed is reduced to a practicalminimum while at the same time affording the user the greatest usablepressure in pounds per square inch for any given weight of hand iron andwill result in a corresponding increase in pressure commensurate withhand applied pressure being exerted on the iron. In actual practice, ithas been found that by constructing the sole plate in the mannerillustrated or in an equivalent manner, the pressure exerted by a threepound iron is equivalent to the ironing pressure exerted by a fifteenpound iron having a flat surface on the sole plate. This increase inpressure is accomplished by using the contact surfaces which, in effect,forms lines of contact. When using an iron having a sole plateconstructed in accordance with the present invention, it is desirablethat the cloth being ironed be placed on a relatively hard surface ascompared with a very soft surface. While advantages are obtained whenusing a soft surface, the most pronounced advantages are obtained when arelatively hard ironing surface is provided.

Also, while an electric-type iron having steam holes is illustrated, itis pointed out that the device may be used with a dry iron as well as asteam iron. When the device is used as a steam iron, the ribs andgrooves do not have any particular function for enabling flow of steamalthough there will be a tendency for the steam to be more evenlydistributed over the sole plate area.

However, the sole plate in the present invention consists of a series ofor at least one convex surface. When a series of convex surfaces areused, they are arranged in a similar parallel pattern. For purposes ofillustration, an ellipsoid arrangement is employed. However,

it is pointed out that various layouts may be provided. For example, theconvex ridges or ribs may define a herring bone configuration or mayextend transversely in parallel relation to each other and perpendicularto the longitudinal axis of the iron. Many various arrangements may beprovided depending upon economic factors relating to the cost ofmanufacture and the manufacturing procedure used in forming the soleplate.

The basic advantages derived from use of an iron incorporating thepresent invention therein is that a greater inherent pressure is exerteddue to the small area of the sole in contact with the material beingironed. In view of this high inherent pressure, little or no pressureneed be exerted on the iron by the operator thereof. Thus, aconventional iron obtaining a comparable pressure to the iron of thepresent invention would have to be considerably heavier than the ironincorporating the present invention therein. The increase in pressurealso enables the operator to iron with fewer passes across the material.Due to fewer passes being required, the ironing operation may beaccomplished in less time thereby increasing the efiiciency of theironing operation.

It is submitted that a careful consideration of the specification andclaims in conjunction with the figures of the drawing will enable thereader to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the subjectmatter of the invention, the features and advantages, and the best modeof using the same. Accordingly a more extended description is regardedas unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A laundering iron comprising a weighted body having a horizontal soleplate provided at its axial center with an integral substantiallyellipsoidal boss having a convex surface, said boss being marginallysurrounded by a first contiguous substantially ellipsoidal rib having aconvexly cambered crest, a second substantially ellipsoidal ribmarginally surrounding said first rib and likewise having acorresponding convexly cambered crest, and a plurality of supplementalsubstantially ellipsoidal ribs surrounding said second rib and eachother in a concentric pattern, and likewise constructed, all of saidribs being progressively and proportionally increased in diameter andproviding intervening substantially ellipsoidal grooves, all of therespective convex crests being in a common plane and coacting toincrease the ironing pressure by reducing the area in contact with anironing surface, and all of said ribs being arcuate and of the samecross-sectional dimension, said sole plate having flat heel and toeportions disposed in the same plane as the crests of the ribs, said ribsaind grooves occupying substantially the entire area of the sole plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 210,551 12/1878Nixon 38-93 43 2,309 7/ 1890 Hardrige 38-93 1,859,167 5/1932 Frenzel3893 FOREIGN PATENTS 201,261 2/1891 France.

18,452 8/1896 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

